Doctor's warning on twins

Ten-day-old conjoined twin girls, born to poor parents in south-eastern Pakistan, will not survive unless they get emergency medical treatment, their doctor, Munaza Batool, said yesterday.

The girls share a heart and liver, and their weight has fallen from 4kg (8.8lb) to 3.5kg, said Dr Batool.

They are being fed a formula which they have not been able to digest.

It was not known whether the twins, who were also running a high fever, could be separated. But Dr Batool said the continued weight loss could be fatal.

"They need to go to a city or abroad," she said.

But the parents have taken their daughters home to their village of Chorhutta, 80 miles west of Multan in eastern Punjab province.

In Chorhutta, a village of mudhouses inhabited by fewer than 60 families, the birth of the girls has caused a furore. Dr Batool said that some residents maintained the conjoined twins were the reincarnation of the 29-year-old Iranian twins, Laleh and Ladan Bijani, who died in Singapore last week during an operation to separate them.

The family of the 10-day-olds has appealed to local charities and the government for financial help, but so far nothing had been received, Dr Batool said.

Conjoined twins occur once in every 150,000 to 200,000 live births.

About 40% to 60% of conjoined twins are stillborn and 35% survive for no more than 24 hours.

Those who survive longer are often plagued by medical complications due to shared organs and vital systems.

Sign up for the Guardian Today

Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.